IV bags filled with what's called normal saline are used to treat problems ranging from vomiting to lightheadedness. But evidence for the use of saline over other intravenous options is scant.
A national survey finds medical schools should do more to help doctors with disabilities thrive. While some schools do make needed accommodations, others need to take basic steps to take to help.
Are opioids the best way to manage long-term pain? NPR's Ari Shapiro talked with Dr. Ajay Wasan, a pain specialist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, to find out.
For some people, something as simple as having an IV line inserted can be excruciating. An emergency room doctor noticed a strange pattern. Many of these sensitive patients were regular opioid users.
The time-honored elixir gets mixed reviews from doctors and, depending on factors such as caffeine or acids, might even make symptoms worse. Another complication: The scientific research is murky.
A bedside computer loaded with software that tracks vital signs in the ICU can pick up early warning patterns, specialists say. But it takes a human care provider to sort the signal from the noise.
Doctors are telling families to refill prescriptions now. Other physicians are giving away drugs to make sure patients have enough if the Children's Health Insurance Program goes unfunded.
As a patient, a critically ill doctor witnesses communication lapses, uncoordinated care and lack of empathy from her health care providers and vows to improve the patient experience for others.
Advocates for single-payer health care in the U.S. often look to Canada as a model. But some American doctors practicing there wonder whether the U.S. is ready to call health care a right.
Prepare to joust over bills with hospitals, medical providers and insurers. You can win by being smart and assertive and acting before a test or treatment is administered.
Many surgeons prescribe strong pain medicine without knowing how much their patients actually need. A group of doctors says hospitals should be accountable for patients' long-term opioid use.
The Puerto Rican government has prioritized getting power back to hospitals. Many clinics and doctors' offices, like other small businesses on the island, still don't have electricity.
Dr. Ruth Berggren spent six days struggling to keep patients alive in in New Orleans' Charity Hospital after Hurricane Katrina hit. She's now caring for evacuees from Hurricane Harvey.
Maine is among a handful of states putting limits on the painkiller dose that doctors can prescribe a patient. Some doctors and patients say the law is helping, while others say it goes too far.
These two older drugs, nitroprusside and isoproterenol, are frequently used in emergency and intensive care situations and have no direct alternatives, say cardiologists.
Dr. Kurt Newman has spent his career caring for children. In a new book, he argues that children are not just smaller adults, and the differences matter for their treatment.
The bill H.R. 1215 would limit awards for non-economic damages — such as pain and suffering — to $250,000. President Trump supports the bill, but many others across the political spectrum don't.
When Dr. Vanessa Grubbs fell in love with a man whose kidneys were failing, he'd been waiting for a transplant for years. Her book explores the ways racial inequity is embedded in the system.
Many patients liked the Qliance approach, which gave them unlimited access to a provider for a modest fee and freed doctors from insurance paperwork. But critics say the approach may not be viable.
Some states dictate how doctors must treat this life-threatening reaction to infection, and early intervention is helping. But scientific evidence may be changing too rapidly for the rules to keep up.
Nearly 130 years since its inception, a modest knob of rubber with a metal handle is still invaluable in diagnosing disease and avoiding expensive testing. But its history is anything but simple.
